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Impact of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on cytology: An institutional experience
Chanchal Rana1, Sumit Kumar2, Suresh Babu1
1Department of Pathology, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Insights
The COVID-19 lockdown in India caused a 92.6% drop in cytology samples, with a significant decrease in thyroid cases. Malignancy rates increased, highlighting the pandemic's impact on diagnostic services.
Area of Science:
- Medical Diagnostics
- Pathology
- Public Health
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted global health services.
- Established medical practices faced unprecedented challenges worldwide.
- Healthcare systems required rapid adaptation to new protocols.
Purpose of the Study:
- To document the institutional experience and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cytology services.
- To analyze changes in sample volume and diagnostic patterns during the lockdown period.
- To compare pre-pandemic and lockdown-period cytology data.
Main Methods:
- Cytology samples received during India's COVID-19 lockdown (March 24 - May 17, 2020) were analyzed.
- Data was compared to samples received during the same period in 2019.
- Statistical analysis was performed to assess significant changes.
Main Results:
- A substantial 92.6% overall reduction in cytology samples was observed.
- Thyroid cytology samples showed a statistically significant decrease (P=0.023).
- Malignancy rates increased by 34.1%, with a decrease in neoplastic cases; breast and lymph node samples showed a relative, non-significant increase.
Conclusions:
- Cytology services experienced a dramatic decline in sample volume during the COVID-19 lockdown.
- The pandemic led to an increased malignancy rate in the reduced sample pool.
- Effective sample prioritization, safety precautions, and patient triaging enabled safe procedure execution.
Background:
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted the health services worldwide, challenging the way modern medicine has been practiced for decades.
Aim:
The present study documents an institutional experience on its impact on cytology services.
Materials & Methods:
The cytology samples received during lock down period in India (24 March to 17 May 2020) were analysis and compared to the samples received during the same time frame in year 2019.
Results:
The data revealed an overall 92.6% reduction in cytology samples received. All sample types were reduced with a statically significant reduction in thyroid cytology samples (P-value: .023). There was relative increase in breast and lymph node samples; however, this relative increase was not statistically significant. The malignancy rate also significantly increased by 34.1% accompanied by decrease in neoplastic category among the samples received during COVID-19 lockdown period. Breast samples remain the most frequent sample type both in pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods. Majority of fine-needle aspiration done in these cases, during the lockdown period, were either in cases for recurrence or primary diagnosis.
Conclusion:
Prioritization of samples, proper precautions and triaging of patients before procedure helped in carrying out this procedure safely.
